302 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-REALIZATION
contamination of this material existence. That is the aim of human life
and the actual self-interest of all people. Self-interest is actually realizing,
‘*T am part and parcel of God. I have to return to the kingdom of God and
join with Him.’’ Just as we have a social life here, God has a social life in
the spiritual kingdom, and we can join Him there. It is not that after
finishing this body we become void. In the Bhagavad-gita [2.12] Krsna
told Arjuna, ‘‘Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor
all these kings, nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.”’ Our exis-
tence is therefore eternal, and the changes of birth and death are simply
the changes of the temporary material bodies.

The actual process for achieving eternal life is not at all difficult. This
process of Krsna consciousness is based on knowledge received from
Krsna, the most perfect being. Knowledge received from others is defec-
tive because the conditioned soul is certain to commit mistakes, certain
to be illusioned, certain to cheat, and certain to have imperfect senses.
The knowledge received from Krsna, however, actually enables us to see
Krsna. Someone may challenge, ‘‘Can you show me God?” and our
answer is, ‘Yes. God can be seen at every moment.”’ Krsna says, raso
‘ham apsu kaunteya: ‘‘I am the taste of water.’” We drink water every day,
and the taste of water is there, so if we think of this taste as Krsna, we will
have begun realizing God every day. In the Bhagavad-gita Krsna further
says, prabhasmi Sasi-stiryayoh: ‘‘I am the light of the sun and the moon.””
Every day we receive sunlight, and in the evening there is moonshine, so
if we think of the source of these emanations, we will ultimately become
God conscious. There are so many similar instances given in the
Bhagavad-gita, for Krsna is the beginning, middle, and end of all
manifestations. If we want to become God conscious and realize our own
essence, it is not very difficult. We only have to understand God in
truth—how He appears, how He disappears, and what His functions
are—then we can become eligible to enter into the kingdom of God.
After quitting this material body, a person who understands God, Krsna,
does not return again to earth to accept another material body. Where
does he go? Krsna says, mdm eti: ‘‘He comes to Me.”” That should be the
aim of any intelligent human being.
